The present invention is related generally to the field of disk drives and, more particularly, to a disk drive enclosure and associated method.
Enclosures for disk drives satisfy a number of operational requirements which are somewhat more stringent, for example, in the instance of a hard disk drive. With respect to the latter, the enclosure is generally composed of two major parts. Specifically, a base portion of the enclosure is often used to support the various components that make up the drive including at least one disk that is supported for rotation and an actuator arrangement for use in performing data accesses to and from the disk. The base portion of the enclosure is generally configured to receive a cover to cooperate therewith in defining an enclosure interior. The cover portion is generally sealed to the base portion in order to protect the components of the drive from environmental concerns such as, for example, contamination.
One approach that has been taken with respect to sealing a cover to a base is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,887 (hereinafter the '887 patent). The latter describes a cover and base, with the latter described as preferably being die cast, each of which define a sidewall. With the cover and base in an engaged position, the sidewalls align in a way which provides for applying a tape seal that bridges a gap between the cover and base sidewalls to provide a seal therebetween. Unfortunately, it is considered that such an approach requires fairly accurate registration between the cover and base and is not well-suited for use in modern small form factor drives.
In a related approach, the prior art has utilized a cover which is generally planar, defining a major outermost surface with essentially no sidewalls. With the cover received on the base, a sealing tape is applied against at least a peripheral portion of the major surface of the cover and the base sidewall such that the tape bridges a corner of the overall enclosure arrangement that is cooperatively defined by the cover and base.
A more recent approach, with respect to sealing the cover portion to the base portion, is diagrammatically illustrated by FIG. 1. The latter is a cut-away diagrammatic illustration of one corner of a hard drive housing that is generally indicated by the reference number 10. Drive housing 10 includes a base 12 and a cover 14. Base 12 is made up of a number of components including a metallic base plate 20 that is thought to be formed by stamping so as to define a peripheral step 22 that extends inwardly to a peripheral sidewall which is not visible in the present view. The peripheral sidewall is surrounded by a molding 24 in a manner which leaves an outer edge and upper surface region of peripheral step 22 exposed. Cover 14 is received by base portion 12 such that an upper surface of the cover is generally coplanar with the exposed upper surface of step 22 so as to define a peripheral gap 30 between step 22 and a peripheral edge of cover 14. In order to seal this cover and base arrangement, a sealing tape 32 is applied so as to bridge gap 30. It is noted that a portion of the sealing tape has been cut-away in the present illustration so as to illustrate the relationship between base 12 and cover 14, including gap 30. Unfortunately, it is considered that a number of concerns may be associated with this configuration. For example, molding 24 may loosen in its connection with base 12. As another example, the use of the illustrated configuration in a small form factor drive is considered to provide little opportunity to minimize the size of the overall enclosure outline of the drive, as will be further described.
In view of the foregoing, it is considered that there remains an unfulfilled need with respect to prior art disk drive enclosures. The present invention is considered to resolve the foregoing concerns while providing still further advantages.